#i'm sorry these lyrical snippets are so long it's just that....the whole song...THE WHOLE SONG

[direwombat]

Wip music monday

Tagged by @inafieldofdaisies, @cassietrn, and @the-silver-chronicles for some musical wip-iness

Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton, @adelaidedrubman, @miyabilicious, @g0dspeeed, @josephslittledeputy,@aceghosts, @madparadoxum, @voidika, @strangefable, @jillvalentinesday, @confidentandgood, @wrathfulrook, @trench-rot, and anyone else wanting to share some music that's been inspiring them!

while everyone was listening to hozier's new album this weekend i was also listening to hoziers new album, but i was also going INSANE about shayfer james and kate douglas' musical retelling of beowulf so that's where all these are from. under the cut because hhhhhhh longk sorry

first up is another werewolf au jacob pov song

I watch them through their windows And I stalk them in the street Oh, they don’t see me They satisfy my hunger I wait til they’re asleep Oh, they don’t see me I call this chaos order I call this carnage peace Oh, they don’t see me I’m gonna grab them by their fragile throats They cower at my feet As I start to feed I would rather be a monster than a fool I’m hungry, and I’ve come for you There’s a pile of bones in the corner that I call friends There’s a pile of bones in the corner that I call friends They built those brittle walls in vain They fear my face They know my name There’s a pile of bones in the corner that I call friends

here's a song that gives off big joseph vibes fitting for katc

DO LIES AND EMPTY PROMISES GIVE HOPELESS MEN RELIEF? THIS IGNORANCE, THEIR INNOCENCE WHILE THEY WALK THE WORLD ASLEEP I AM CUNNING, THEY’RE COMPLICIT I AM COMING, THEY DISMISS IT LET THEIR CREATURE COMFORTS BLIND THEM I HAVE COME HERE TO REMIND THEM I AM WAKEFUL I AM WATCHFUL I AM UNAFRAID TO FIGHT I WILL STIR YOU FROM SLUMBER I WILL NEVER SAY GOOD NIGHT I AM WAKEFUL I AM WATCHFUL I AM UNAFRAID TO FIGHT I WILL TEAR YOU FROM YOUR TREASURES I WILL NEVER SAY GOOD NIGHT WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF SOMETHING FOR EVERY GIFT THERE IS A SIN IT DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU’RE STANDING WHERE YOU ARE AND WHERE YOU’VE BEEN WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF SOMETHING CUTTING CORNERS, CASTING STONES WE ARE NONE OF US IMMORTAL WE ARE ALL OF US ALONE WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF SOMETHING FOR EVERY GIVE THERE IS A TAKE WE PRETEND TO LOVE THE VICTIMS OF THE CHOICES THAT WE MAKE WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF SOMETHING EITHER PAST OR PRESENT TENSE WHO WILL SAVE YOU FROM YOUR SHADOW? WHO WILL COME TO YOUR DEFENSE? WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF SOMETHING FOR EVERY WRONG THERE IS A RIGHT YOU’LL MAKE ANY LIE A LULLABY IF IT HELPS YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF SOMETHING EVERY DAY THIS QUIET WAR I AM HERE TO WAKE YOU UP I AM OPENING THIS DOOR

and a bonus duet that has big joe preaching to his flock energy that is also inspiring katc

[THE FATHER] ANOTHER HEATHEN THEY’VE RECRUITED THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE REST SHE COMES IN WAR, SHE COMES LIKE THUNDER WE’LL LOSE WHATEVER WE HAVE LEFT SO YOU MUST DO THIS FOR YOUR [FATHER] .... [THE FATHER AND EDEN'S GATE] THEY’RE HATEFUL, THEY’RE HEARTLESS THEY SAY WE’RE THE ENEMY I’M ALL THAT YOU’VE GOT WE ARE BLOOD, WE ARE FAMILY IF YOU DON’T STRIKE FIRST SHE’LL TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME [THE FATHER] WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU SON YOU ALWAYS DO AS YOU SAY THEY MEAN TO TAKE IT ALL AWAY THEY WON’T TAKE IT ALL AWAY [EDEN'S GATE] [FATHER], I WILL KEEP YOU SAFE I’LL BE YOUR EYES AND YOUR PROTECTOR THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS IN THIS PLACE EXCEPT TO SATISFY OUR HUNGER [FATHER] I WILL KEEP YOU SAFE NO, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID I’LL RUIN ALL THAT THEY’VE CREATED I WILL TAKE IT ALL AWAY BOTH THEY’RE HATEFUL, THEY’RE HEARTLESS THEY SAY WE’RE THE ENEMY I’M ALL THAT YOU’VE GOT WE ARE BLOOD, WE ARE FAMILY [THE FATHER] IF YOU DON’T STRIKE FIRST SHE’LL TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME

[saynomorefic]

hi!! for the WIP game, im very curious about the future waits for no one! 💜

Hiii Tina, sorry it took me so long to answer you! <3

This is the WIP I have done the most for, and I've posted about it here in the past but I sadly can't find my prev posts. This is an abandoned fic that I realized I need to do faaar more research than I'm capable of doing haha.

(Non-Royal AU) Basically Wille and Simon are former schoolmates / aquaintances. Simon got big as an underground indie artist, and then got signed to a major label. Said label owner ended up marrying him, and then Simon finds out that his soon to be ex-husband (and his label exec) has somewhat intentionally sabotaged his career. Cue Wille, entertainment / copyright lawyer who wants to help Simon get the rights back to his music and career. I need to know far more than I do about the international record label scene and Swedish entertainment / media law. It's one of those where you realize you're a little in over your head lol.

Here's a little snippet on Simon's backstory! <3

At some point in the night, his band took the living room stage. They would throw random chord progressions, beats, melodies, and lyrics together until something stuck. He did his typical act, bouncing around the stage, singing into the other performers faces and throwing himself on the ground at the end of the set. Simon felt Carlo’s eyes on him the whole time, and he liked the surge he felt under his gaze, like someone important finally saw him as one of them. At the time, that was the same thing as love. 

Two weeks later, Simon received an offer to open for Sluttider, an upcoming band that had just signed with Retrograde. The catch was that he had to perform solo. Karim was furious, more with Retrograde than Simon. He understood what it meant before Simon did; Retrograde wanted him, only him, and that likely meant new management, different tours, and most of all new bandmates. Simon was in a frenzy trying to come up with solo material. He didn’t want to steal the band’s songs, even if he had written most of the lyrics, so he holed himself up in his old room in Bjärstad and didn’t talk to anyone, writing furiously for weeks.

The show was a resounding success. Zero named him the best upcoming artist, and people began comparing his songwriting to Vampire Weekend, and his sound somewhere between Hozier, Frank Ocean, and the Pixies. Retrograde hired a new management team, and Simon immediately started getting gigs and studio time booked. Sluttider got their first European tour and invited Simon as their opener, and his solo EP was recorded the sparse days he could return to Stockholm between shows. 

The EP release was complete chaos. His former bandmates came forward with stories about diva behavior, backstabbing, and being a sellout. It only added intrigue to his growing notoriety, and most of all, if got him press. Pitchfork dubbed him the new “Golden Child” of Sweden, putting an indie act on the global stage. Retrograde went all in for a festival circuit, so right after he caught his breath from Sluttider, he was back on the road. 

Carlo sent flowers to his hotel room in Paris. 

The note read, Great work, Golden Child. 

[bi-bats]

8, 22, and 29 (with the word "gush") from the ask game?

Hello hello!!!! Thank you for the ask bestie 💚💖💚💖💚

8. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, share a song that's been inspiring you lately.

Yes, I listen to music while I write. While I am putting actual words down, I listen to a lot of lo-fi stuff that doesn't have a whole lot of lyrics, if any. While I'm coming up with ideas or planning scenes, I usually listen to songs with lyrics! It usually helps me figure out where I want a character to be mentally/emotionally. There are three songs that have been inspiring me lately (specifically for I Know What My Brother Is):

Heavy in Your Arms by Florence + the Machine: this will make sense for the chapter I post after I post the next one. The really long one (with smut lol). Also it's generally a very DamiTim song

Love is More Depressing than Depression by prxz, Shiloh Dynasty: this is mostly vibes but the lyrics also work, this is the kind of thing I write to when I'm actually typing things out

I'm Fine by Foushee: the vibes here are just very Damian in this fic to me. Like the way it goes from being soft and calm to suddenly so angry really reminds me of him I guess

22. Have you cried while writing a fic?

lmaooooo no I don't cry easily. I have 99 pages of history on Ao3 (which actually doesn't include everything cause I didn't read logged in a lot of the time) and none of the fics I've READ have made me cry, either.

29. Send me a word. If it's in your WIPs, include the sentence and a short summary of the fic.

Sorry bestie, none of my fics have the word gush in them!! 💚 If you want to send me a different word, feel free! In the meantime, enjoy this snippet from the next chapter of I Know What My Brother Is (I think I've seen you in my notes about that one):

“Dick seems to like you,” Damian mutters, forcing his hand to resume wiping off the spotless white marble of his counter. Tim sighs, “Dick is twelve and his parents are dead, he’s just after one of my guns.” 

[hexenmond]

gushing about Friday's Engin concert

So I was on the fence about going to this concert for weeks, but long story short, I'm SO GLAD I WENT! 😍

Engin are a German-Turkish band hailing from Mannheim, which isn't very far from where I live, and on Friday they were playing in Reutlingen, which REALLY isn't far. And they were freakin' fantastic! This video snippet is the solo part of "Stillgelegte Tränen" (roughly translatable as "discontinued tears"), and I hope it shows at least a little just what a wonderful live act they are.

So yeah, I came home from that experience with the clear intention to really go out to concerts more (and maybe the theatre) from now on. I hadn't been in ages, and that's a mistake! It was so lovely to spend some two hours dancing and swaying, watching and listening to three fabulous musicians really rock it, and also I was super proud whenever I caught a Turkish word I understood.

Something that struck me at the beginning when the drums started playing – I don't think I've ever heard a drumset sound so, hm, musical. I mean drums usually file as percussion, and their sound to me is closer in range to "noise" than to "melody". But the sound of these drums sure had a sort of full-bodied, richly tonal quality that I found amazing.

In contrast, the bass started out more hard and metallic (the bassist was playing with a pick most of the time) – however, both sounds changed during the concert and during later songs the bass was much more mellow (also played without a pick for a bit). I'm not sure how much of that was influenced by the sound technician, but I believe it entirely possible that these three fabulous musicians just have that range of tone.

Oh and the lyrics! Much of Engin's original songs are in German, but they did play a lot of Turkish songs as well, and I don't know how many of those were traditional or covers and how many were their own. I did love all of them and the singer gave a little context for many of the songs which was lovely, and like I said, I was so proud of myself whenever I understood a word. And I should add that I didn't understand half of the lyrics in German either! (too fast, too much music going on, lyrics too out of context to catch it all) Their song lyrics generally lean towards poetry, which I personally love but isn't always easy to understand when you hear it for the first time.

There was one song that was about growing up in between between languages, between cultures, between homes, something I can relate to a bit because of my half English heritage (I had a few teenage years where I was totally out of sorts and wishing I'd grown up on the British isles instead of Germany). It's not entirely the same of course. My ear caught four words – "blond genug für Sympathie" ("blond enough for sympathy"), and I thought, oh wow. White passing privilege and on the flip side, never being fully at home and welcome anywhere, in four simple words.

Anyway! You know, I woke up on Saturday morning at around half past four, my mind racing with the whole experience and I lay awake thinking about what I was going to write until about six, when I fell asleep again 😄 and now it's Sunday evening and my brain has shut up a little. But I'm still writing this because a) I want the world to know about this wonderful band, and b) I want to get back into the practice of writing regularly. I have this five part, long form fanfiction that I WILL finish!

So here's some links for all of you who are interested in super danceable tunes, multicultural music and lyrics, and/or absolutely rocking sound:

Engin's website (in German only, sorry, but you can just click on the videos)

my absolute favourite song in German: Echt ("genuine")

my absolute favourite song in Turkish: Gurbet ("foreign place", very melancholic)

[notebookmusical]

Hi!!! I'm so sorry I didn't reply until now. This week has been blah and I've felt more tired than usual. I love it all too and I loved seeing Long Live live so much, but I mostly understand why they were cut. I like everything how it is, but I would probably change the Evermore and Red songs the most. I would get rid of We are Never and I guess 22 for State of Grace and Red, which is an awesome opener and title track that sets up the whole album. I would not get rid of ATW 10 at all omg!!! For Evermore, I would probably get rid of Tis the Damn Season and Tolerate it, even though I like the table setup. I would probably put Gold Rush instead or maybe Long Story Short and would hypothetically want Evermore since it's another title track and my fav. I still liked her solo version of it too. I think I would try to add Our Song somewhere but it's a good thing its in the movie! I definitely love Look What You Made Me do with the other Taylors and the Don't Blame Me transition. The thing about rep to me..is I like every song but I don't really have specific favorites in the album as much. I feel the same way about 1989 sort of but Iove the singles, so I don't know if I would change anything on tour.

I am excited to hear it later tonight though omg!!! I forgot which song you said you were the most interested in or the most excited to hear. For me, I think it's still Slut and between Suburban Legends or Is it Over Now. Did you see the lyric snippets she posted and which songs do you think they were a part of? The first one reminded me of Holy Ground cuz of the coffee lyric mixed with a little bit of I Wish You Would but then someone said it was more chasing shadows in the grocery line lyric and I might prefer it if the song did have more longing actually so I guess we will see. That might also change what song I'll think it's from. When she did these for Midnights, I was pretty good at guessing a few of them. I am more interested in the pool lyric cuz of aquamarine for now but we will see if she shares another one later today too! Do you listen in order or vault first? I'm still gonna try shuffle for this one and see how it goes. If you have any other predictions for the songs, you can put them here. I am very curious on the sound, though I have no idea what it could be. I think there could be another slowish dreamy song and maybe it will be the new closer. Even though most of the songs are pretty short, I'm hoping they are still amazing and I'm sure they will be! Also, I wanted to ask you if you plan to listen to The Good Witch too cuz I really don't know if I should listen to Maisie or Taylor first. Like I feel like I wanna save Taylor for last but then I will be too excited..and maybe it depends on how long the album will be, but I also wanna hear Maisie's songs too, and I don't know what to do.

For Midnights, I honestly just consider the 3AM version the main version. I think when we heard it, it was all together cuz it was almost midnight and we were barely still getting thru the main album. I remember being the most excited for Midnight Rain, and Lavender Haze, and Antihero. I did not really like Midnight Rain on the first listen and my prediction of the song was wrong. I thought Lavender Haze might be an old fashioned 50s Broadway style love song from the way she talked about it and that was wrong lol. Antihero has become one of my favorites and I liked it when I first heard it but it wasn't an instant love either. The album grew on me a lot but my favorites have stayed mostly the same, and we have some of the same favorites! I think I'm going to listen to it later to get in a 1989 pop mood and I haven't heard it in a while.

Anyway I listened to Hollys album again and I think my favorites are Into Your Room, Ghost Me, Antichrist Lauren and Elvis Impersonators. Some of the songs blended and I think I need more time but I really enjoy the whole album. I think some of her older songs stand out to me more though at this point, like Scarlet and Walls are Way too thin.

Ya stunt casts are always sort of mixed for me, but if it works and gets more people to see shows, then I guess it's a good thing. Ya I was wondering how you felt about Jordan Fisher in the role. I knew it was rumored but didn't know it was confirmed, and I would be interested to see him in the role. I hope you have fun at the tour and I think seeing someone else might make a difference in a good way, even though I like Reeve. The only thing about the Waitress proshot is I'm not used to Sara in the role haha but I'm sure she's still good. Idk if I will see it yet but I do want to at some point and hope I don't forget about it. I realized I never got around to watching the Heather's proshot either, except it wasn't one of my favorite musicals. I seriously meant to watch Daddy Long Legs and Allegiance at some point..like I had both on my old computer, but never got around to it! I have listened to the cast recording of Daddy Long Legs though and know the basic plot and meant to watch the old movie version from the 50s. I remember one of the things my sister said was she has such an interesting voice too and thats why some songs would always get stuck in my head. I love She Loves Me and have seen a non pro shot version of First Date before. I've never had Broadwayhd but always wanted to check it out. I try to watch as many proshots as I can. I've never heard of Snapshots but it sounds interesting mixing Stephen Schwartz shows. Haha yes, we have actually already discussed Smash more than once in your asks but I do love it. I wonder what happened to the Smash musical. By the way, I heard Gatsby got mixed reviews but at least I think the costumes I saw made it look better and the sets were gorgeous!

Les Mis was great but now I can barely remember it! I can't believe I went but it almost doesn't feel like it. I loved him as Marius! He has a good voice and I always love Empty Chairs. My sister said she actually didn't care for Enjolras on tour and preferred Aaron in the movie and also that Jean Valjean sounded like Hugh Jackman from the movie, but it could be that we are too used to it even if I do love it..but seeing it on stage obviously just feels different and it's better. Just remember that reading or annotating is supposed to be a hobby so just take your time if you want, since it's so long. Eventually you will make some progress. Honestly I haven't had a lot of time for reading either if it makes you feel better. I did make time to start our buddy read which I wanted to do before I replied to you cuz I read that you said you didn't like it as much, and wanted to see how I felt about it. only read 2 chapters so far. I thought it was okay, but I think the thing that threw me off was that I never read third person so I would have to get used to that. If you don't want to read it anymore for now though, I can also start the Night Circus..even if it's not October anymore lol. Also I realized that I might have been confusing the Starless Sea with the book that you said you hated..the house in the cerulean sea lol. I realized I don't even know what that book is about but maybe I will try to find it if I like the Night Circus. But another person I follow said they loved the Starless Sea too and it's definitely one of their favorites so I might have to check it out. Oh I did not know that about Only Murders but I know the newest season revolves around a theater show and does have music or singing in it so thats awesome. Also..I actually know nothing about hockey at all! I remember it was a category on connections at one point and I was so clueless, but I hope you had an awesome time at the game! Anyway have a blast listening to the album tonight and I will reply with my reactions and opinions so we can talk about it!!!!

i was just thinking about you, friend! i've been looking forward to hearing from you, but no pressure on when you pop into my askbox 🤍 i hope your week gets better soon, and you get to rest this weekend!! do you have anything fun planned?

ugh i love state of grace — i do prefer the acoustic but it's such a good song. "mosaic broken hearts" is one of my favorite phrases that taylor's ever written. and i was lowkey always surprised gold rush never made it on the eras setlist, but then also a lot of things about the eras setlist surprised me (like no mashups). her solo version of evermore is so good; i really hope there's a live album of the surprise songs!

and i did! i think the 300 coffees one is from is it over now, but i'm not sure what the aquamarine one is from! othe chasing shadows line is so good too, i love cardigan. i'm still upset it was cut from the movie (despite understanding why she did that). i'm really bad at guessing things so we'll see! i would love a slowish dreamy song, but i feel like 1989 will be more pop upbeat stuff this time. i'm going to listen in order, but i might actually listen to maisie's good witch deluxe first and then 1989!

i'm still holding out hope for a 3 am vinyl. i love the way midnight rain is done on tour (i think a lot of midnights is perfect for touring, actually). i do think that 1989 and midnights seem more like sisters, than midnights/anything else — including lover; what do you think?

and yay!! i'm so happy to see that you listened to holly again! i do think some of them sound a bit similar, and i think that my favorites from her ep (scarlett, the walls are way too thin, deep end, etc) still outrank how i feel about my favorites on PMBB, but am curious to see how that'll change with more listens/over time!

i think jordan fisher will be great, vocally! there's been a lot of jokes about if he shows up to work (from when they were in deh) but i think jordan's always been a very strong vocalist and i'm really interested in his interpretation! i've never seen sara in waitress, but i have some friends who REALLY love her, so i'm excited to one day see the proshot! i am so bad at watching things — it's been years and i still haven't watched the come from away proshot either, and i love that show. i loveeee megan mcginnis' voice, it's so pretty! i also really like how she sings in some things are meant to be (little women)! i remember that now 😭 sorry! i haven't looked into the gatsby musical too much after we talked about it!! i'll look at some reviews and then we can chat about it next time :")

i'm so glad you got to see gregory as marius before he left!! i just love his marius! and yes — i am so excited to buddy read! are we still buddy reading both books? which book did you get two chapters into? happy to match your pace, obviously! i am finishing up an audiobook (hopefully tonight) and then am good to start something else! i love the starless sea! but i do hate the house in the cerulean sea!! the house in the cerulean sea is probably up there for my least favorite books of all time (for many reasons). if you want i'll also buddy read starless sea with you! a quick note for night circus — pay attention to the dates! i didn't realize it wasn't chronological the first time i read it and had to restart after a friend pointed it out to me.

wait do you play connections daily!! i play connections religiously; i love it. i had a blast at that game, and i feel like every time i go see a game in person i get more into the sport — i've been watching the last two kraken games online, which has been really fun (i used to lowkey just follow updates but now i'm watching from home and learning a lot more)!

by the time you read + reply, you'll probably have listened to the vault tracks + good witch deluxe so i'll leave you with some questions! what were your favorites, and initial thoughts? least favorites? how accurate were your predictions?

hope you're having a good weekend + have some time to rest!! xx

[moonyasnow]

I TOTALLY agree on the part about it being more interesting to have a character actually born in Twisted Wonderland!

And man the dynamic between Eve and Jamil, especially contrasting how it starts to how it ends post-OB, sounds so interesting!!! ☆.☆ though it also once again confirms to me that the universe seems to like watching Jamil suffer haha

Oh and actually, I also have a Jamil & OC fic I'm working on! Currently mostly focusing on planning out the story as a whole and adding some writing snippets here and there when I get inspired enough. It's technically a song-fic actually? And it focuses on 'freedom' as a theme, both in regards to Jamil's and my OC's, and the different ways their shared lack of it manifests in their lives.

Here's a link to the song that gave me inspiration— it's in Japanese so here's the lyrics translated if you wanna read them

As for my OCs (thank you so much for asking aghhhhhhh my babies OTL) I have 7 main ones. One is a Yuu-Sona (Tomoe) and one is still pretty recent-ish (Spike) so not yet SUPER developed for what I think he'd be in Twisted Wonderland.

But my 5 other ones I've reworked to be able to fit! As a general rule of thumb I try to, in a sense, 'recreate' the conditions of my OCs original backstory, but just in Twisted Wonderland.

They are: Irina Junia Artemisia (the one in my Jamil fic actually) Veronica Victor

Hmmm I think the most interesting ones in terms of what I did with their backstories are probably my OCs Junia, Victor and Veronica.

I actually have Junia here! > <

(now that I think about it! I did start a WIP with her at one point— kind of a 'childhood friends AU' type thing with her and the characters she'd be interacting with most at NRC… didn't write a lot of it but maybe I should keep going with it…)

My other most interesting ones are Victor and Veronica, partly due to the fact that they're twins. They start at basically the same point, as the children to a very old Fae family I made up— the Dragomirs— that have recently been on the decline, partly due to the fact that a bit of human blood has been mixing with their bloodline for the past couple centuries(idk what the heck the blood mixing stuff level would be so I just say they're half-fae). They're specifically Salamanders; lesser draconic fae.

They each have a long (and angsty) backstory but the big thing is that the way fae society treated them affected them in very different ways due to their individual personalities, Veronica really embracing her human side kinda like an act of rebellion and Victor becoming equally disgusted with both the human and fae parts of his blood.

They were also separated when they were quite young, and Veronica grew up in Briar Valley and Victor traveling around various human nations.

More info under the cut because I can INFODUMP. Like, I'm serious. Only click the read more if you're ok with reading a LOOOOOT of backstory[ just…way too many words Σ('◉⌓◉’) ]! Sorry, I just can't help myself, I love talking about my OCs so so so much

Just know I could honestly write entire essays about each of my OCs' dynamics with the TWST characters

Ok so first big thing is their difference in magic:

Victor was basically a child prodigy, and so was treated as more fae than he was human compared to his sister. But because he was meek, timid and a crybaby as a child, other fae children also bullied him a lot. But due to his high magic aptitude for his age, a relative who wanted to restore the name Dragomir ended up kidnapping him and deciding they would raise him to take over the Dragomir name (even though Veronica is technically the actual heir on account of being born 3 minutes earlier) and that…included quite a bit of abuse. He thus came to resent the fae half of him for (at least in his mind) giving him the magic talent which lead to that abuse and to being separated from Veronica, and his human half due to the effect the bullying by other fae children had on him coming to resent anything within him that could be seen as 'weak'.

As for Veronica, she had such little magic talent that they were basically just treated like she was human growing up. But they've always had a deeply engrained instinct to protect the people she loves, so they began to train very, VERY hard in swordsmanship (particularly after Victor was kidnapped) in order to try to make up for that perceived weakness so she could protect the ones they love next time. She started attending an academy for knights in Briar Valley (along with Silver and Sebek actually— I'll get to that part later) and was constantly looked down upon for her human heritage and lack of inherent magical aptitude. Think kinda what happened in Leona's backstory. It lead to a bit of an inferiority complex, but she, unlike Leona, never gave up— she just pushed herself harder and harder, partly also in an attempt to prove that humans could be just as strong as fae even without relying on magic.

Where they ended up next:

To keep them safe, her and Victor's father (distant relative who adopted them after their biological parents died when they were 5– Veronica doesn't remember her bio parents tho) sent her away to live at this Academy of Knights I talked about just after her 8th birthday, only a few months after Victor was kidnapped. Though to them, this read as being abandoned, since her father wasn't there for them when they needed him the most and instead sent her far away from him. At this school she was basically entirely alone and under a lot of emotional distress from just losing her twin, and feeling like it was her fault because they couldn't protect him. This lead to them working EXTREMELY hard to keep up with and eventually surpass her fae peers at the school.

As you can probably imagine, she and Sebek ended up butting heads. A lot. Every time he called them 'human' felt like him trying to rub her perceived weakness in her face. They fought a lot. But also defended each other when anyone else attacked the other for their half-human half fae status. It was a…strange relationship.

As for Silver, the two didn't interact much, but Silver had a lot of respect for them for working so hard to try to prove fae wrong about humans' 'weakness'. He was also the only one who saw just what an emotional toll it took on her. But he didn't say anything, just watched from a distance when she'd cry as she kept training late into the night.

Also— the Dragomirs had historically served as knights to the Draconia family. So when Sebek and Silver were chosen as Malleus' knights over Veronica, people expected her to be upset. But she really couldn't care less. Which lead to yet another screaming argument with Sebek over 'not realizing what an honor it is to serve Waka-Sama!'

As for Victor…his first stop after being kidnapped was the Island of Woe. The Shrouds owed his new 'parent' a favor and let them hide out there for a while, during which he became pretty close with Idia and Ortho, since they were the first of his peers aside from Veronica not to bully him.

But he eventually left— before the whole Ortho incident could happen.

And he found that, as he kept traveling with his relative and came across more people being in awe of his magic, he slowly came to see it less as a curse and more a necessary evil he could use to, um…'free' himself. And he did. One day he just— killed his parent. He didn't feel anything at all doing so, not before and not after.

Compared to how his relative and his bullies treated him, animals had always been very kind to and even loved him. So to Victor, animals are a lot better than people. He ended up becoming kinda murderous and sees almost all other people as 'less human' (for lack of a better term) than him, and so feels no qualms about literally just killing them. They never cared for him so why should he care for them? But if he ever has to kill an animal, it's always for a reason, and he always does so as humanely as he can.

Then one day Victor was given an invite to Night Raven College. Veronica too— due to her father pulling some strings(cough cough— bribing Crowley). But neither of them found out about this until the literal sorting ceremony, where Victor was sorted into Ignihyde and Veronica Pomefiore.

And they both ended up becoming quite close with their respective Housewardens.

Victor because, as a childhood friend, he was one of the only people Idia could tolerate being in the same room as. Victor was astounded

And Veronica really admired Vil for his work ethic and refusal to settle for less and how far it had gotten him, seeing it as aspirational. But they were first properly introduced after Veronica was the only freshman not at the dorm dinner, because they were in the hallway crying due to the overwhelming emotions of seeing a twin she'd thought was dead again. He basically told her that he understood, but to get a hold of herself— and Veronica being the person she is actually found that very encouraging.

Veronica's admiration of Vil for who he was and what he'd achieved, as well as the way he treated her— she had always been seen as lesser and not good/strong enough, but he was someone who saw potential in her, and thought she could go far, basically taking her under his wing.

She kinda became the older sister in Vil, Rook and later on Epel's mother-father-son dynamic, and she proudly calls herself Vil's 'knight'. Hence why Rook's nickname for her is 'Chevalier de la Reine'.

And when she once again met Sebek— her now long-time rival/sorta-friend— at the same school she was attending, their rivalry started up all over again. Vil is almost to Veronica what Malleus is to Sebek, just with a lot less deification, so you can imagine the sort of arguments the two of them get into. Think 'waifu war'.

Once again I'm sorry for WRITING SO SO MUCH ; ; aghhhhhhhhhh it's like when it comes to my OCs, a demon of some kind possesses me and is like 'spill it all do it right now'

I have a BAD case of 'overtalk as soon as there's someone who wants to listen' in general haha

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm working on this twst oc fic (working is a very loose term because it's all in my head and I'm struggling to write anything down), so I thought I'd post an little snippet of it here.

For context, my OC is named Eve Stirling. He reincarnated from a fantasy world that had it's own magic. Backstory wise, he was an orphan on the streets who was picked up by a noble and trained to be a bodyguard/ personal attendant. The noble turned out to be the 'villain' of the story (not that anybody knows that), but Eve was extremely devoted to him, called him Master, blah blah blah. Long story short, the 'villain' got defeated and killed by the worlds hero, and despite Eve's best efforts, the hero's part did not kill him out of misguided assumptions of innocence. Ultimately, Eve died after avenging his master, and reincarnated into TWST, where he becomes a painter (only so that he can make portraits of his Master), and is desperately trying to find a way to bring his Master back to life in this world, or travel back to his original world to revive him there. He get's placed into Pomefiore during the sorting (not rlly important here but it felt right that you know)

The snippet takes place during the Scarabia chapter. Eve is commissioned by Kalim to make him a painting that captures Scrabia's essence (kalim's words, not mine lmfao).

Lotta backstory, but I feel like it's necessary lol. The snippet is under the cut!

“Ah, yes.” Viper coughs lightly, “My apologies, but I have a request.”

-----------

“Can I help you, Mr. Viper?” he asks without turning around.

Eve finishes the stroke and gently wipes his paintbrush before setting it down. Truly, what Viper thinks important enough to interrupt him after being specifically asked not to, he doesn’t know. 

“What is it?” he turns around and startles at how close Viper is standing. He didn’t even hear him approach.

What on earth…?

“There’s something in your eye. Let me get it out for you.” Viper reaches up and gently brings Eve’s face down level with his own. Their eyes lock.

The world turns black.

-

“The one you see reflected in your eyes is your master. Answer me when I ask. Bow when I command. Snake Whisper.”

-

Stirling falls, which is an unusual reaction in and of itself.

Jamil glances down at the prone form on the ground and crouches to check his pulse. He’s not dead… surely… it would be quite the hassle if Sterling did die right now, considering numerous people are interested in his well being.

No, the pulse is still strong. Not dead, thankfully. But still unconscious.

“Of all the troublesome reactions…” Jamil mutters as he drags the other man onto the bed. “You just had to faint, didn’t you? What kind of weak…”

Jamil cuts himself off as Sterling begins to shift. He prepares to knock the other man out at any sign of trouble. He can’t afford to have any unknown variables appear at this stage of his plan.

Sterling groans and sits up, clutching at his head.

Abnormal reaction. The spell didn’t work.

Why, exactly, the spell didn’t work is a mystery for another time, when Jamil’s entire life goal is not about to be shattered into pieces. He moves to grab his magic pen, only to freeze when Sterling snaps his head over. He stares at Jamil. Jamil stares back. Sterling’s face begins to flush, and the look in his eyes as he gazes at Jamil…

It’s almost reverent. A gaze of love, devotion, loyalty, relief; everything the Asim family has ever expected of Jamil, packed hypnotically in eyes so deep, Jamil almost drowns in them.

He feels like a god under that gaze.

Sterling opens his mouth, face flushing. His voice comes out wispy and faint, barley making a noise. The words seem to come out almost involuntarily, the way they push so lightly past his lips, hanging in the air with all the weight of the world.

“... Master…?”

-

Eve wakes up dazed, head pounding, staring up at the ceiling of his temporary room in Scarabia. He sits up, groaning and clutches his head as his headache intensifies. He feels the same as he did back when he trained against Master, body battered and aching. 

He grips his head tighter, and then freezes as the presence next to him makes itself known.

That aura…

Eve whips his head around, disbelieving and nearly breaks down.

A man sits next to him, glorious as the day Eve saw him last. Black hair perfectly straight, falling like silk strands around a strong form; skin pale and scarred from battle, stretched perfectly across sharp features; eyes red like the rubies inlaid upon his crown. A man sits next to him, staring down at him with amusement.

Eve could cry. 

My God, My World, My Everything..!

My-

The image flashes briefly, pale skin turning tan, sharp features turning sly, before it settles back into place. Eve’s eyes white out in pain.

“...Master…?”

[deliriumsdelight7]

C, D (for any fic that this question jumps out at you), F, G, H, M, N, V, W, X, Y, Z? (Sorry if this is a lot😅)

You are single-handedly giving me an excuse to not clean my counters and fold my laundry. I appreciate you. Gonna throw this behind a tag because it's gonna get long. I am a wordy fucker.

C: What character do you identify with most?

Gotta go with Chrissy. While Eddie's interests and ADHD-coding are definitely things I can relate to, the whole living in an emotionally oppressive household thing is something I know intimately well. And... well, let's just say that when Chrissy has her first vision, and the rattling lock makes her curl up into a ball in the corner and scream for the monster on the other side to go away? Been there.

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?

No playlists, but nearly every fic title I've come up with is from a song title/lyric. For "We Could Be Invisible," the song is "Invisible" by Dio, and that's the song that popped onto the radio to break Chrissy out of Vecna's grasp. I think it's a song both Eddie and Chrissy could really connect to.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favourite dialogue scenes you've written and explain why you're proud of it.

I have a very difficult time taking pride in my work, to be honest. Writing is just something I do, and there are so many other incredible writers out there and I'm always comparing myself to them. But one that I kinda sorta like is from Chapter 2 of Invisible:

“Hey, uh, Chrissy?”  His voice sounded ridiculously loud in the hush of the boathouse.  “Look, um… I know I’m not exactly your first choice party member on this fucked up adventure we’ve found ourselves on.  I always kinda thought I’d be like… the Strider of my story.  But, um… looks like that’s not the case.”  

He paused, wondering what she’d have to say.  Part of him hoped that she’d say something to his defense, even if he didn’t deserve it.  But she didn’t say anything.  Hell, she probably had no clue what the hell he was even talking about.

“Anyway.  Just wanted to say that… whatever the hell’s going with you… you’re handling it like a real badass.  It takes a lot to carry what you’ve been carrying.  I might not be a Strider, but you, Cunningham, are one badass little Frodo.”  She didn’t answer.  He snickered; yup, he’d definitely lost her there.  “Anyway, point being, uh… I’m not going anywhere.  You know?  I can’t fight what you’re fighting, but I can listen.  I’ve got a pretty good ear.”

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Start to finish. I can't do it any other way, because generally, when I write, the characters tend to take a scene and twist it into something new that I never intended, which forces me to change things as I go. It makes outlining or writing out of order borderline impossible.

H: How would you describe your style?

I have no idea. I'll be honest: I don't really pay attention to style, when I read or when I write. I just sort of... do it. I know that my prose is pretty basic compared to a lot of the gorgeous stuff out there. Not too heavy on the symbolism and imagery and descriptions and emotions and stuff. Thing happens, character reacts. That seems to be how I do things.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you'd care to share?

I've got another Kas!Eddie fic sort of percolating at the back of my mind. This one would lean harder into the whole vampire angle, and would take place during a hypothetical season 5. It would have sort of a Beauty and the Beast angle, where someone actually does something with the mob Jason whipped up. It's still in early stages.

I also have a Steddissy/Hellcheerington fic that I'm actively resisting. The premise is, Chrissy breaks up with Jason, which makes things unbearable for her with her mother. To spare her the worst of Laura Cunningham's abuse, someone gets the idea that she should get a fake boyfriend. Eddie offers to step up (out of the goodness of his heart and certainly not because of a longtime crush), but dating someone like him would only make things worse. But if she were to date Steve Harrington, the popular former jock with the good family... Things sort of develop from there, and what starts out as a romantic rivalry becomes a love triangle and eventually develops into a full-blown throuple. Because my girl Chrissy deserves two gorgeous himbos with fantastic hair.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

All of them. Writing is HARD. I don't wanna WRITE this fic, I wanna read it!

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I actually am writing a sequel to another author's fic (with their permission). The fic is called "SnapeChat" by OracleObscured, and it's a Severus Snape/Hermione Granger phone sex oneshot. (Don't @ me about the pairing, I've been stuck on it for like twenty years). The fic is fantastic, but it leaves me desperately wanting more. I'm kinda stuck on it at the moment, but I'd love to get it finished one of these days.

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones?

I don't like prompts. Or rather, my muse doesn't. I find them incredibly difficult to work with. I actually envy the people who can take a prompt and turn it into something amazing.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

Any character I like. I saw a post on Tumblr a few weeks back that compared a good character to a glow stick: bend 'em til they crack and watch 'em shine. Then just give 'em a happy ending afterward. That's basically my M.O.

When it comes to characters I hate, I have no urge to make them suffer in my writing. They're beneath my notice, so they get glossed over, if they're mentioned at all.

Y: A character you want to protect.

Same as above. You know that meme, with the guy who shoots someone and then says, "Why would ____ do this?" Yeah, that's me, writing my faves. How dare anyone hurt them? *proceeds to hurt them*

Z: Major character death—do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can't tolerate?

I'm writing ONE Major Character Death fic for the Rumbelle fandom. I really can't say more about it without giving massive spoilers. Suffice to say, that tag (among others) has scared off a lot of potential readers.

MCD definitely does scare me off, to an extent. I can do unhappy endings in books, movies, etc. But when I read fic, I'm looking for a getaway to a world where happy endings are guaranteed. So... I think that tag would keep me from reading something until the work was finished (and even then, I'd skip to the ending to see who it was so I could emotionally prepare).

Thank you for the ask! I suppose I should go do some housework now.

[nightfayre]

Awesome, another opportunity for me to be nosy, haha ^^; Well, I take 8, 12, 29, 34, 44 and 46 please. (It's a lot, I'm so sorry, I already tried to hold back >.< )

hi, Elaine!! no worries at all -- I’m so excited to answer these questions! :)

8. favorite fanfic from another author?

hands-down, no questions asked, my all-time favorite fic is our doubts are traitors by astoryaboutwar. it’s a yuri on ice fanfic that is just... it’s more than what I can put into words. it’s just marvelous. I will never be able to express my love for it even though it is incomplete. please treat yourself to it one day.

12. your favorite work?

erm, right now I don’t really have a favorite work of my own? I guess allergy season is the first choice that pops into my head, but that’s typically the case whenever I post something new!

29. where do you get your inspiration from?

100% music. album/song titles, certain lyrics, even the vibes of a song can cause a whole plot to appear in my head. it’s kinda fun, actually!

34. favorite comment you’ve ever received?

I immediately went to fire and the flood to find my favorite. the love and support that fic has garnered has never ceased to warm my heart even after all these years. like, seriously, rereading all the comments has actually made me tear up a bit right now lol! I suppose a comment left by Kaminari (which I am assuming is @kaminari3112?) on chapter 5 is one that I will never forget. idk... I don’t want to talk about this too long, but comments like that one just... give me a sense of peace. of belonging. of love. it’s simply beautiful. I wouldn’t trade all my comments for anything. 

44. share a snippet of your current WIP?

LOL uhhh okay.... lemme just rummage through my google docs to see when the last time I actually wrote something was......

“What’s wrong?” Lan Wangji asks him lowly, straight to the point. For some reason it makes Wei Wuxian want to laugh.

“What do you mean?” he replies, playing the fool.

It doesn’t work. Lan Wangji catches his eye, holds his gaze. “Wei Ying.”

Caught, Wei Wuxian’s lips press. He steps back to face the other man and Lan Wangji’s hand drops from his elbow. Wei Wuxian immediately misses the contact and he curls his fingers at his side to ward off the need.

“Is it the curse?” Lan Wangji asks quietly. In all honesty, Wei Wuxian has no idea. He hasn’t a clue what just happened to him, nor what happened to him last night. Paranoid, he curses at his own brain, and he’d thump his forehead with a fist a few times if Lan Zhan wasn’t already concerned for his mental wellbeing. How could he be so childishly paranoid?

“No way,” Wei Wuxian assures him, believing it. “It’s temporal, remember? They never had issues in the daytime. I’m just super tired. I feel like it’s worse that I got a few hours of sleep rather than none at all, you know? So hurry up and put me to bed, Hanguang-Jun. If I collapse you’ll need to carry me all the way back.”

I don’t think I plan on ever posting this MDZS fic, but it was fun to write at the time! right now I want to focus on F&F. :)

46. favorite sentence/paragraph you ever wrote?

oh, dear. the mortifying ordeal of going through all my posted works. here it is:

After all, there is a rhythm to fire. It whispers and crackles and hums without saying any words at all. The smoke tendrils twirl around one another like dancers before they’re stolen by the updraft of the chimney. And, eventually, one of the logs always gives beneath the heat; crumbles and splits into pieces of itself, bright orange embers erupting like spores from its downfall. It’s He Tian’s favorite part.

[chanyoungies]

1, 10, 12!

artzyy hiiiiiii <3

1. obligatory what was your favourite song this year

i wouldn't say i have just one favourite song but i feel like if i have to choose one i'm legally bound to say cravity's call my name. she's everything to me. from the second we heard the snippet in season.3 prologue i knew she'd be the most beloved to me. from the moment i saw that video up till the moment the album got released all i could think about was her nd only her. i was so annoying about it too. i had the exact timestamp for the snipped in the video memorized (6:13-6:27). i couldn't stop mentioning those 11 seconds. i would write nd rewrite the lyrics at any chance given i would recite them i would sing them i would hum the melody i was obsessed. then the album came out and guess what. this is the only song to ever song. everyone else go home. this is all i need. had it on loop for so long why listen to anything else and waste my time when i could be listening to her. it has been a bit less than a year, but guess what. i am still obsessed. she's still my everything. this year, she's to me what do u like was last year. call my name 여기 멈춰���어 oowhoa 네가 있었던 기억 속에 .. 작은 손 내밀어- ooh whooah!! 나란 존재를 빛.나.게.해!! oh oh oh baby call my name oh oh oh baby call my name oh oh oh baby call my name oh oh oh my name .....

10. has any song become a sort of meme or inside joke with your friends? if so, try to explain the joke :)

there's a lot of songs/lines me nd my bestie quote very regularly for absolutely no reason skdfjksdj we can't keep a straight face when singing along to my turn sorry to allen but he's the clearest victim here we truly lose it at everything he says wow pow keep it lowkey etc

12. what was your most anticipated release of the year?

trying to look for one that met or exceeded my already high expectations... maybe lovesong or loser=lover? they truly delivered, tcc: freeze as a whole, and loser=lover as a title track (mv included) <3 beloveds <3 i knew txt wouldn't disappoint <3

[geometricalien]

oh dear i'm super duper late but I have a lot of questions about your wips!! I wanna know more about sick Akashi, nekoma pirate crew, BoKuroo/BokuAka midsommer, Pining + Jacket, The truth burns and destroys, feeling good, Punk Noya, Strawberry Blonde, sunspot and the merman au!!! Thanks babe <333

Hi Vee!!! This is it, I spent wayyyyy too long on this, I think my finger is cramping from typing. But thank you for asking, I love sharing my ideas, sorry if it’s incorherent.

This is super long so it’s under the cut, saving people room

Sick Akashi 

So, it’s based off of a line prompt “I’d like it if you’d stay” and as the title suggests, 3rd year Akashi gets sick, sorry Vee it’s not fatal, Furihata comes to Rakuzan to check on his friend after he doesn’t answer his phone. The entire premise is Akashi works himself sick with his various responsibilities he takes on as “perfectionist who can’t show any cracks at all”. I don’t want Bokushi Akashi showing up so it’s minus the mental break elements. (also technically in canon terms it's after they have merged so yeah) I feel like they deserve a cute little “nurse” the other from a sickness ficlet. And… maybe… sick Akashi confesses…….. It’s almost a writing challenge for me because Akashi has a more polite sophisticated way of thinking and speaking, so cough yep

The rest are Haikyuu aus so buckle in

NEKOMA PIRATE CREW 

Admittedly this is more loose, less of a solid idea. It’s Yaku centric, and how he went from a merchant from his grandfather’s company searching for lost merchandise and became the first mate who keeps track of the ship's finances and keeps their captain Kuroo on track. Other things of note, he meets Kuroo first as a pirate on another ship who stole his merchandise, Kenma is a sea witch (is that science or magic? That's always the question), and about halfway through the adventure they get Lev on board as a new member. So yeah! Kinda a fetch quest but on of my favorite fanfics is legitimately a fetch quest so it's okay fjdkaljf

BoKuroo/BokuAka Midsommer

This is based off of a fanart by desdelasombra my friend Shayla showed it to me and we threw this idea around together, we really don’t want to write it but it's also spectacular. So it's the movie Midsommar, right? Bokuto is a “gatherer” bringing his friends to come join in his village’s rituals. But we didn’t want anyone to die (except for Kenma sorry he’s dead as the substitute for the main character’s sister), so a grieving Kuroo comes with his boyfriend Bokuto, joined by their friends the smart studious and jaded Oikawa and bright bubbly Hinata. Obviously the three react badly to the first ritual and Bokuto doesn’t understand because for him it’s always been a joyful experience and he wanted to share it with his friends. A Lot of things happen, but most important is Akaashi and Kuroo dancing under the may pole together. BokuAka was in the past when Bokuto was home so part of this is them coming together as poly and escaping the final scene of the movie. Again this is very painful but that art is beautiful and the world is better for it being created

Pining + Jacket (KuroLev)

Again this is a line prompt about lending a jacket because it’s cold and it had so much potential for pining and who is the most pining bastard that I know? LEV and Shayla told me about KuroLev and somehow this happened. It’s currently going to be a sequence of drabbles of Lev pining after Kuroo, what else could you ask for? Uh? Lev confessing to Kuroo and them going out??? Sorry I can’t hear you over the exquisite angst and pain of one sided love that I want to explore

The truth burns and destroys

GOOD CHOICE, I began this on saturday night and it has earned a very special place in my heart. Sometimes I fear that my writing is like a lazy pool, sure it's nice and easy and smooth but there isn’t an intensity or raw emotions, BUT THIS this accomplishes what I want. And I’m really glad, its metaphor and imagery heavy but it really captures their emotions and thoughts without it sounding like I’m a 7th grader writing my first fanfiction glances to my abandoned wips from that time. Okay, Vee, I am a glutton for punishment and angst and I choose to pursue cheating fics. But specifically where and how they build the relationship up again after finding out. So, I was reading a KageHina cheating fic and how the character’s reacted felt off somehow so at midnight I wrote this snippet to fullfill my craving, you know what they say the best fanfiction is self indulgence. Here is a short excerpt,

He wants to brush this aside and continue their lives. He wants to wake up next to Tobio and still be seen the same way. He doesn't want anything to change. 

Tobio is his favorite book. He has read it time and time again. Highlighting, underlining, cherishing. So Shouyou is able to read the silent begging in his eyes. The right clenched fist. 

"Shouyou," a deafening pause "What is this?"

Please lie to me.

…

It stretches on. The eternity of silence. They sit together holding on to the last hope they have. Shouyou memorizes those beautiful hands, each crease and bump. Hands that helped shape him become who he is and that reached out unwaveringly. 

Tobio sighs a world ending sigh. 

Shouyou was the one who created their world, it's only fitting that Tobio is the one who destroys it.

In summary I like angst, I want to feel something 

Feeling good

AAA, okay uh, This is a BokuAka pop star au. Akaashi sings “feeling good” at a big charity event hosted by Akashi (... yes I am AkaFuri trash and I can and will sneak them in anything and everything I write) while he is singing he walks down a big staircase remembering moments in his relationship with Bokuto, how much they have grown and how much he loves him. I love the concept! But I tried to write smut in the beginning of it and OOF THATS A NO. I actually have the majority of it written but I do want to add more emotions and thoughts (the lazy pool writing) and make it Ao3 friendly because I have all of the lyrics for feeling good in it as “post signs” for what he sings and that’s against their rules. 1 major aspect of this fic is it's all leading up to the point where Akaashi says “I love you” for the first time to Bokuto after finishing the song, on stage, in front of everyone and on every screen broadcasting it.

Punk Noya

I have a love for feral boys, especially feral alternative punk boys (and girls and humans) so this whole idea is that Noya goes to another school for high school, embraces more punk aethsetics, and on the first day of the preliminary tournaments he hears the rumors about a high schooler in a gang, getting up to nasty things, and he decides to confront them. He finds Asahi, rants him out and leaves. The plot then follows canon, at the winter tournament Karasuno faces Dateko, Karasuno loses even more badly because Noya isn’t there. Asahi quits volleyball, BUT Asahi and Noya run into each other at the store and talk leading to friendship which leads to romance. Idk man, I want more punk haikyuu characters, it gives me life. Alt Yamaguchi is my favorite but onwards we go

Strawberry Blonde

!!!! So this is Mitski’s song and to give a vague idea this is a pining Kageyama fic where he tries to pull away from Hinata and that back fires. (I  do have more to say but I’ve been typing this for over an hour and I’m getting really tired fjkdaljl) There is one paragraph that I love, so here it is! Kageyama and Hinata are practicing by themselves outside of school and they are playing pepper (its a volleyball warm up practice routine where you partner up with someone pass, set, and spike the ball to each other sesquentially) Hinata goes to spike the ball and for a moment Kageyama sees it, 

They are at nationals and they made it to finals. The crowds are screaming, but everything except the court is thrown into shadows. They are at match point of the final set. Everything is at peak intensity and at the center is him. Flying in the air. Orange hair waving with the momentum. His loud take off echoing in the gym. Arm poised for the kill. Eyes sparking with ferocity and passion as he aims. And finally, tipping the world over is the loud slap of his hand, sending the ball to the far side of the court-

This was actually going to be finished and posted in time for Haikyuu season 4 coming out and the manga wrapping up.... clearly I failed my goal fjdaklfj

Sunspot

You don’t know this about me but I love royalty aus, and this is BokuAka Prince Akaashi and Knight Bokuto. This was a short snippet of this grand idea I have for them where they run away from Akaashi’s inherited destiny together. It has potential to be really wide and expansive with the differnet teams as different kingdoms (AGAIN ILLUSION OF CHOICE, that fic really influences me doesn’t it fjdskalj) But this was a short glance at Akaashi taking a break from studying and watching Bokuto and the other knights practice duel. The title comes from the fact that Bokuto is a sunspot in Akaashi’s life, and his day is substantially better basking in his golden shining light.

Merman au

I’m so glad you asked about this and its technically the one I’ve written the most for since it's actually the one I posted on my haikyuu writing side blog. But brief recap, long term it’s a BokuAka little mermaid au but instead of a sea witch it’s an underwater deity who makes “wishes” (it's a deal) with every royal who is born. And Akaashi has a lot of siblings: Ushijima, Oikawa, Suga, Terushima, and Hinata, and its in that order. So I have information on every sibling’s deal, what they wish for, what they give for it, what happens to them in the future, romantically and otherwise. But, this is the one I haven’t updated in over a year, I am working on it!! I’m currently on Koushi’s (suga’s) wish/deal, its just taking forever. If you want to learn more about it I’ll link it in parts  1  2  3  4

BUT I will work on Suga’s part and then Terushima’s and then to the meat of the idea with Akaashi. 

If you have made it this far, thanks, you are cool as always. My brain and fingers is ded. 

[nordic-language-love]

hi! i tried to look for an faq to see if you've answered this question before, bcuz im sure im not the first one to ask, but i'm curious as to how you got to the level you are in norwegian? i've been studying it for years and just found that im only A1 in listening, and A2 in everything else. feeling pretty gutted and frustrated, and I remembered seeing in your bio that you're like solid B1. So, yea any tips that have got u where u r would be super helpful! takk :)

Oh I understand that frustration - the first time I took a Norwegian proficiency test I was certain I was at least A2, maybe even verging on B1… came back as A1 for everything. My poor ego took quite a battering that day.

(This got kinda long and I’m really sorry about that :| hope it’s all helpful! Gonna put it under a ‘read more’ so it doesn’t clog up people’s dashes)

I think the most important thing when pushing myself from A2 to B1 was to try and use or expose myself to the language as much as possible. My phone is in Norwegian. I always had a Norwegian CD in my car. I’d listen to audiobooks, podcasts or the radio while I’m doing menial tasks (and when I say ‘listen to’ I mean I’d desperately try and pick out words here and there, never mind whole phrases). I’d try to read at least the headlines on NRK every day, even if I never got as far as reading any articles (sometimes I’d just read the first paragraph of one). I’d talk to my cats in bad, broken Norwegian. I’d sing in the shower. I’d watch a grammar explanation on youtube (Norsklærer Karense is my favourite). I’d write snippets of my thoughts or a bit about my day, even if I ended up just deleting it. Basically, even if I wasn’t sitting down to study properly, I was still doing something - that way I got used to sentence structure and prepositions and other grammar, and the most common vocab got cemented in my head because I was exposed to it so much. I also make sure to ask for clarification when I’m unsure, and when I do post things in Norwegian I always try to use at least one word or sentence structure I’m unsure of and ask for feedback, because if I never push myself and get that feedback I’ll never be able to write in a natural way.

Some things you can do specifically to improve your listening:

1. Listen to Norwegian songs with the lyrics in front of you. This will especially help with learning to recognise words even when they’re spoken in dialect, as a lot of Norwegian sing in their dialect too. When I do this as a learning exercise I usually listen to the song once without lyrics to see what I can pick out, then with the lyrics, then I’ll translate the lyrics (always try to translate them yourself first, then double-check with online translations), listen again a few times with the lyrics in front of me and then I’ll try without the lyrics to see what I recognise and what I’m still missing. Here’s a spotify playlist if you’re stuck for songs!

2. If you use Duolingo - close your eyes or look away from the screen while the sentence is being read and try to understand what’s being said as best you can. Then look at the sentence and replay the audio while reading it. Again, this helps you to match the sounds to the words so you’ll understand better in future.

3. Take advantage of youtube teachers - Torill Høiby offers grammar explanations with text onscreen and Norskkurset by Anne-Beate Stenstøen can be viewed with subtitles. Norsklærer Karense speaks very slowly and clearly, and she often uses written aids. Again, these will help with matching the sounds of the words to their written equivalent.

4. Have the radio, podcasts or audiobooks on in the background while you’re studying or doing housework. This will help you get used to the natural rhythm of the language, even if you don’t pay a lot of attention and can’t understand much. Radio can be found on the NRK website or the app and audiobooks can be found on youtube (just type the Norwegian title + lydbok into the search bar).

5. Watch Norwegian TV shows on NRK with subtitles. Again, you may not understand everything, but you’ll expose yourself to different dialects and you’ll start to pick out more common words (if an unfamiliar word or a phrase that doesn’t quite make sense keeps popping up, look it up then go back and rewatch things again and see if it helps give context to other words).

I also made a post of Norwegian Listening That Doesn’t Feel Impossible - check it out!

@kjaerekrake made a masterpost of Norwegian youtube which you should check out too :)

For your other skills:

A decent textbook is a good investment if you’re looking to improve your level. The Mystery Of Nils is great, and I really like Norwegian Tutor as well (Mystery Of Nils has audio files available online as well as awesome grammar explanations and short vocab lists too; Norwegian Tutor is more grammar-based and comes with a lot of exercises to help push you to the next level. Plus you’ll learn lots of new and more difficult vocab, which is important when you’re looking to reach intermediate level).

Reading articles about things you’re interested in is a good idea too. NRK and Aftenposten are good news sites - try browsing articles related to your interests (I love cooking, so I spent an obscene amount of time reading recipes). Wikipedia’s a good shout too - maybe look up your favourite sport or your favourite animal or a subject you know a lot about.

Write a journal - you don’t have to share it with anyone, but I’ve found keeping a journal reinforces vocab I’ve learnt and has improved my confidence with using the language. You can also look back and spot your own mistakes as you get more advanced, which is kinda cringey because omg did I really write that but also awesome because you realise you’ve improved.

I hope that helps! Learning a language is really difficult, and Norwegian listening in particular is very tricky because of all the different dialects and the fact Norwegians tend not to pronounce half the letters in any given word (I’ve had nowhere near as much trouble with Spanish listening!) But you will pick it up - even if it takes you a bit longer than some people, you’re more than capable. Just don’t give up

[morethanmeetstheass]

Sorry for bothering, but I'm really curious, how did you come up with RoH? Sorry if you already answered this before!

no problem! i love answering questions like this! :D

if you mean the title, i was outlining while listening to silbermond and the song ‘das beste’ came on, and i googled the lyrics for funsies, and i really liked the way ‘reise ohne ende’ sounded. it’s a pretty phrase with an interesting sound (i really like german), and i wanted to pay homage to blitzwing’s accent in a gentle way bc,,, it’s hot,, i have no excuse

as for the storyline, i was reading a ton of blitzbee fics at like 3 am and getting disappointed because i was in a huge slow burn mood and i couldn’t find any for blitzbee. i whined about it to a friend for a bit and my tired brain decided ‘hey, if i want the content, ill MAKE the content.’ i wanted a fic that really explained why it is i ship blitzbee so hard, the aspects of their personalities that work so well together, and none of the fics i saw really went into that with the depth i wanted them to. so that was pretty much my entire motivation: i was thirsty for blitzbee and full of spite.

i’ll put more under a readmore because this post got a little longer than anticipated OOPS

it took a little while after getting the idea to really figure out what i wanted the basic storyline to be, so after spending some time blocking out blitzwing and bumblebee as characters, i picked a couple of scenes and arguments that i really wanted to write, and the idea for a stranded scenario tied them all together really well, and i really wanted blitzwing and bumblebee to get to learn about each other with no obstacles, forced to stick together despite openly hating each other. and a stranded storyline fit that to a T, so i just ran with it from there

the hardest part was figuring out blitzwing’s backstory– i had a few headcanons and little snippets of ideas before even starting this fic, but i really wanted to flesh him out as much as possible and give him a reason for his canon behavior other than just “comic relief crazy guy.” and ho, boy, did i have a fun time with that. the whole dream concept actually came after i finished outlining his backstory, and it became one of my favorite things to write even though i thought of it on a total whim

i could go on for HOURS about my writing process, but i dont wanna bore you all. so tl;dr, i made a really flimsy one page outline and added and added and added and added until it was a 13 page, fully fleshed out beast, and that was enough for me to justify starting to write. since this story focused a lot on character development, i REALLY wanted to make sure i progressed their relationship as naturally as possible, so i spent… maybe a full month outlining after i got the idea? it was a really, really long time, because i really wanted it to be absolutely perfect. blitzy and bee deserve it. god, i love them

i hope this answers your question LOL